The good:
Judith Skinner is a very precise caner and instructor! In
this video, she leads the viewer through a fairly complex
caning construction process, with clear instructions and
examples. Additionally, Skinner tosses in some neat tips
and tricks, such as using brown paper as a work surface,
and demonstrates a fantastic method for getting an exact
color blend.

Included with the video are charts for creating the
quilt cane. The charts, which are handy for other
projects, are also available at the abba dabba
Productions website. After constructing the cane,
Skinner demonstrates another neat technique for making
the cane slices appear to be rippling in the breeze. She
also shows how to use up the scraps from the cane.
Finally, the video ends with a nice touch: a gallery of
Skinner's work.

The not-so-good: I thought this 88-minute
video would never end. The presentation of the material
was just too slow. Skinner was speaking slowly to begin
with, and certain techniques, such as blending colors
and cutting the clay, are explained, demonstrated, and
then repeated -- in full -- every time they are used.

For instance, the cane reduction section is 12 minutes
long. First Skinner reduces a fairly large cane down to
a small cane, then she repeats the process with other
canes two more times. Twelve minutes is a long time to
watch someone reduce a cane.

Also, five minutes of the video are devoted to the use
of the JASI
Slicer, a tool which, while wonderful, doesn't
need more than a minute or two to explain and
demonstrate. Even the JASI website acknowledges that
just a photo tells the whole story.

Additionally, I wasn't crazy about the quality of the
production. The tape is grainy, and at least once I
could hear noises -- someone talking? -- in the
background. At $29.95, the video should be better
quality.

The bottom line: Slow but precise, with a
couple of neat tips thrown in along the way.